BackgroundThe Venom symbiote approached Macdonald "Mac" Gargan, formerly known as Scorpion, and offered him new abilities. Gargan bonded with the creature, Gargan later became a member of a sub-group of the Thunderbolts which was drafted by the Mighty Avengers to hunt down the members of the fugitive Secret Avengers. It was then revealed that he had been outfitted with electrical implants by the government to keep the symbiote in check.

KeywordsCelebrity, Thunderbolts.

Combat Values: Venom’s combat values and 8 clix of life are very solid. They are not overly impressive nor are they lacking by any means. His speed peaks at an impressive 9 and never drops below 8. His attack values are also formidable maxing at 10 but never dropping below a 9. His defense tops out at 17 and drops to a 15. While his damage values peak at 3 but never drop below a 2. The only area he seems to be lacking in is his range of 4.

Powers and abilitiesFirst off Venom has a trait which grants him the leap climb power through his entire dial. This is going to make pinning him down virtually impossible. His speed powers consist of plasticity and later flurry. Attack powers are very formidable with half a dial of Blades/claws/fangs, and the other half loaded with steal energy. While his defense gets a boost from super senses and combat reflexes. Lastly his damage powers start with 4 clix of shape change, followed by 4 clix of Battle fury.

Playing VenomOn the battlefield, Venom has a dual purpose. He is a very effective tie up figure, with a secondary function as an attacker. His combination of shape change and super sense can make landing a hit on Venom quite a challenge. Use leap climb to get venom in close on the figure you want immobilized. Then use Venoms plasticity and blades/claws/fangs to take that figure down. Don’t be afraid to push Venom as his values and powers stay pretty consistent. Also you will eventually gain the steal energy and flurry powers. This will allow Venom a chance to get some clix of health back, while still putting a hurting on the opposition. Once your enemy is down, Venom can use the Leap climb trait to move to another target. Don’t forget, if Venom gets in over his head you can also use this trait to move him to safety.

Combating Venom Venom’s only drawbacks are lack of first strike mobility and range. This can be instrumental in taking him down. Try to keep your distance and soften him up with ranged attacks. Use outwit on his shape change or super senses, to increase your chances of lading a hit. Venom has no damage reducers; so as long as you hit he should take damage. Outwit can also rob him of his B/C/F’ attacks so he wont be hitting you for 3-6 damage. If you have Perplex try dropping his attack values so that his chances of hitting you is decreased. Pulse wave is an excellent choice when taking on Venom. Pulse wave will bypass his shape change and super senses and inflict damage as long as the roll is high enough.

FeatsThe vampirism feat could be used to grant Venom a full dial of steal energy; this is great if you intend to push Venom.

VAMPIRISM (cost: 12)Prerequisite: Blades/Claws/FangsChoose a character. The character can use Steal Energy if it can't already.

The Camouflage feat is a good choice for helping Venom to avoid ranged attacks while sneaking in close.

CAMOUFLAGE (8 points)Prerequisites: Shape ChangeChoose a character. When the character is adjacent to a wall or blocking terrain, any line of fire for a ranged combat attack drawn to the character is blocked.

The Pounce feat is an effective way to turn Venom into a primary attack figure.

POUNCE (15 points), +1 attack value, +1 damage valuePrerequisites: Leap/Climb; damage value 1 or 2Choose a character. Give this character a power action; it moves up to its speed value and makes a close combat attack as a free action. After resolving this action, this character takes 1 pushing damage that ignores Willpower and team abilities.

Lastly, the Takedown feat is a low cost feat that can add greatly to your opponent’s frustration level when taking on Venom.

TAKEDOWN (6 points)Prerequisite: Incapacitate or PlasticityChoose a character. If an opposing character makes an unsuccessful close combat attack against the character, after the action is resolved give the opposing character an extra action token if it as zero or one action token. If the opposing character already had one action token on it, give it a second action token deals pushing damage normally.

Team Building If you’re using Venom as a secondary attacker, make sure your primary attacker has some first strike mobility. You can also try using a figure with telekinesis on your team to turn Venom into a ranged version of blades/claws/fangs. Figures with perplex or probability control backing Venom up will greatly increase his effectiveness on the battlefield.

Final assessmentVenom is an excellent bargain for his 73 points. Although I would not recommend using him as your primary attacker he is a superb choice as a harassment/secondary attack figure.

Yeah they are also good feats. I felt they were not as strong as the ones I chose. 2 chances to avoid being hit is pretty solid as it is. If you want to add a third sure but, I would rather see him get first strike with pounce, and vampirism could keep him in the game indefinitely. I felt that was better than a third chance to avoid being hit. Thanks for the feedback though!

Posted by: Slade Wilson on 6/5/2010 4:30:10 PM

Batarang is right.NO ENTANGLE? It gives him THREE 1 in 3 chances to not get attacked/avoid attack.Vault greatly increases his mobility and allows him to get to another target or avoid ranged attacks by repositioningEntangle and vault are the feats for him.

Posted by: Nighthawk on 5/22/2010 10:11:54 AM

WHAT??? No mention of ENTANGLE anywhere??!!

Posted by: Batarang96 on 5/20/2010 6:00:09 PM

Very good tie up figure, thats how I first ran into it. Very hard to get off your back once he is in contact.

Posted by: scourge101 on 5/19/2010 11:49:20 AM

A great review to be sure. he really is one of the best tie-up/nuisance pieces in the game. by personal cardboard choices for him are lunge and entangle. i find his power set leads him to be in base contact and exposed. i really like making three rolls to determine if your opponent can hit you. and lunge is great for mobility, especially on the back end with L/C.

Thanks for the article!

Posted by: Ringer on 5/19/2010 11:19:18 AM

A well-done, restrained coverage of the piece, all the way down to the best Feats for him. The temptation (in games that will allow it) to add all four Feats to him - 41 pts - runs strong with me, as my goal is always to try to equip a character with whatever I can to allow it to operate the way the character should.

One of the gems of the set IMHO, I'm also a fan of the sculpt's subtleties, though I understand how some fans want him to be large and looming.